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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  2. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. It's one o'clock ________________.
  5. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  6. We're on a ________________ here.
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  11. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  12. My father caught me by the ________________.
  13. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  17. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  19. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. roll — a list
  2. bass — the instrument
  3. spring — of water
  4. sharp — exactly
  5. band — a rubber band
  6. roll — on a roll
  7. sharp — clever
  8. tear — from crying
  9. tear — from crying
  10. band — a ring
  11. roll — a cake
  12. arm — part of the body
  13. sharp — with an edge
  14. spring — the season
  15. race — humankind
  16. bass — the fish
  17. bass — low music
  18. race — a contest
  19. arm — part of the body
  20. tear — to rip
  21. arm — a part of something
  22. race — the arms race
  23. spring — a coil
  24. band — a music group

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com